Son of Hiram Sibley, who presented the University of Rochester with its first library building in the 1870s, Hiram W. Sibley is recognized in the Rochester community for providing funds to start the first music library in Rochester. In 1904, the Sibley Music Library was founded “for use of all music lovers in Rochester.” Hiram W. became a prominent citizen of Rochester and was involved in various business ventures throughout his life, including railroads, timber, coal, land, and a seed company. Like his father, Hiram W. Sibley gained much financial success, and often shared it with the community. For more information click here.

Can I take recordings/videos out of the library?

You might not have privileges to take out recordings. Only Eastman faculty members, teaching assistants, and graduate students can take sound and video recordings from the library. They cannot be taken from the library by undergraduates students or community members, but they can be charged out for listening and viewing in the 3rd floor listening room for three hour intervals. Exceptions can be made at the discretion of the Recordings and Reserves Librarian. Sound and video items include LP records, cassettes, CDs, reel-to-reel tapes, videos, videodiscs and DVDs, and certain media items.

This question is trickier than it might at first seem. Legally, the employees of the library cannot tell you whether you can or cannot make a photocopy of a published work. If the item is in the Public Domain, then certainly you are free to copy whatever you need. If it is still under copyright, or if there is a question about its copyright status, please go here http://www.lib.rochester.edu/copyright/ for a fuller explanation of the steps to determine if the intended copying is legal.

Sibley Library has four public printer/photocopiers, two in the hallway near the circulation desk, one in the Current Periodicals Reading Room, and the other in one in the alcove near the reference desk. The first three listed are operated by U of R ID cards, or by separately sold copy cards. To buy a new card, or to add money to an existing card, you can use the VTS machine (the black box attached to the wall next to the 2nd floor photocopiers). Please also note that the VTS box only accepts $5, $10, and $20 bills. The copier in the alcove near the reference desk is a coin-op machine, which takes bills or coins.

The copiers give you the impression that they can also scan documents, but they cannot. We have two scanners in the Listening/Media room on the 3rd floor: one a high speed sheetfeed scanner, and the other a large, tabloid scanner that can scan up to 11×17 paper.

Often you will find suitable editions that are part of the circulating collection. In the event that you cannot, exceptions can sometimes be made for closed-shelf items at the discretion of Library Staff.

There are a number of possibilities. Check the Voyager Catalog record to determine if the item has a temporary location. Any item in a temporary location can be requested to be used by clicking on the Request This Item link on the right side of the Voyager record. Depending on the location and the needs of the item, if could be ready anywhere from 2 days to 2 weeks.

Bindery: the book is either in the Conservation lab scheduled to be bound or it has been sent to a commercial bindery.

Brittle Books/Conservation: the book is in need of repair.

Cataloging: the book has been received in the library but it has not yet been cataloged for a variety of reasons.

Gift: the book is in cataloging and has not yet been cataloged for a variety of reasons.

Replacements: a copy of the item has been ordered as a replacement for a “lost” or “missing” copy or a copy that is too damaged to circulate. The turnaround time on these types of items is variable.

Storage: items are in storage because they have been “retired” due to condition (too brittle, binding has been damaged etc.); there will usually be a replacement copy of the item in the stacks. If the current copy is already loaned out, a recall can be done. If not, occasionally arrangements can be made to view the older copy.

Storage Unclassified: These are items that are to be cataloged but without an urgent need.

If the item does not have a temporary location, and is simply missing from the shelf, you can also check:

Prestacking (the area of shelves behind the circulation desk)

Carrels on the third and fourth floors

The area near where the item should be in case it is simply out of order

Think of logical places where it might be shelved mistakenly (e.g. ML or MT for an M-classed item; M1503 for an M1508 classed item; M457 for something with the call number M457.4)

If the items you charged out are not overdue, it’s easy! From the “Basic Search” screen in the Voyager Catalog click on the words “My Account” at the top of the screen. Enter your NetID/password. Then click “Login” and Voyager will display your name, address, and charged out items. If you want to renew any of your items, click the check boxes to the left of each item, then click “Renew.” Voyager will report which items were renewed and which items could not be renewed due to library policies. This screen will also display any requests you have made, as well as any fines or fees that you owe.

If you find something in the Voyager catalog that has a temporary location of “Catalog Department,” “Gift,” or “In-Process,” you can have that item cataloged for you in 2-5 days. Click on the “Request This Item” link. Fill in your barcode or NetID/password plus your last name, and fill out the online request form. Make sure that you ask to “Pick item up at my circ desk” (“Get checked out/overdue item for me” is used when another patron has the item checked out), and on the last page make sure to indicate that you want the item picked up at the Sibley Circulation Desk.

Even though Sibley is a very large library, we may not have everything that you need or want. There are two ways to obtain needed items. To request that the item be purchased, please send an e-mail to our Acquisitions and Serials Department: sibacq@esm.rochester.edu. If the item is available for purchase we will order it and notify you after it has arrived and been cataloged. The speed of the ordering process depends on how long it takes our library vendors to obtain the item and ship it to us. Particularly with orders to European vendors the process may take eight weeks or more. To request that a needed item be borrowed from another library via Interlibrary Loan, search Worldcat for what you need, and click on the link that says Sibley Interlibrary Loan. Once you log into ILLiad, the necessary data from Worldcat will be imported so that we can successfully complete the transaction. If you need help using Worldcat, please ask at the reference desk. The amount of time this will take will depend on the nature of the request, and what library will send it to us. It could take 2 weeks or more (or much less, if from a nearby lender).

Absolutely! Once you find what you are looking for in the Voyager catalog, if a library other than Sibley holds that item, you can click on the “Request This Item” link. Fill in your NetID/password and fill out the online request form. Make sure that you ask to “Pickup at My Circ Desk” (“Get Checked Out Item” is used when another patron has the item checked out), and on the last page make sure to indicate that you want the item picked up at the Sibley Circulation Desk. Once it arrives in Sibley, usually in a day or two, you will be notified by email that the item is available for your use.

The Eastman Audio Archive comprises Eastman recordings of concerts from 1933 up to the present. All recordings after 1988 (and selected earlier recordings) may be found in the Voyager catalog. Pre-1988 recordings not found in Voyager are searchable in the Composer/Title and Performer card catalog, housed in the Ruth T. Watanabe Special Collections.

Performances found in Voyager may be ready for immediate listening. To see if there is a service copy available, look at the Voyager record for a second location, and a call number that begins with an “S.” These copies are available at the Reserves and Recordings desk. If no service copy exists, go to Special Collections and fill out a “Service Copy Request” form. Recording engineers from Technology & Music Productions will transfer the original recording to a service copy CD, and you will be informed when it is available.

The University of Rochester maintains two wireless networks that can be accessed from anywhere in Sibley. One is used by members of the UR/ESM community, the other is an open access network for guests.